CNOOC LIMITED announces that CACT Operators Group, a consortium which includes CNOOC China Ltd., with a 51% interest, and Agip China B.V., Chevron Overseas Petroleum Ltd, and Texaco China B.V. each holding a 16.33% interest has successfully completed another subsea tie back project In the Pearl River Mouth in South China Sea.

Well HZ 26-1N-1A has commenced production from an extension of the HZ 26-1 oil field, one of the five fields operated by CACT Operators Group in contract area 16/08. This will add within the next few days 10,000 barrels of crude per day to the 110,000 barrels of crude per day currently being produced by CACT, thus strengthening CACT′s position as the largest off-shore oil producer in China.

The sub-sea well is tied back to the HZ 26-1 platform, some 9 kilometers away, through a 10-inch insulated flowline and a 4-inch flush line. Production is remotely controlled from the platform using an electro-hydraulic control umbilical. A gas lift line is provided to supply gas from the platform to the well for artificial lift. The Project has been completed in less than 14 months from its approval.

Mr. Fu Cheng Yu, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of CNOOC LIMITED pointed out that: "HZ 26-1-1N-1A is the second successful sub sea tie back project completed by the group in the South China Sea, the first one being HZ 32-5 18 months ago, also by CACT. This technology has proved to be a key success factor to develop existing marginal fields which would not have been developed with traditional concepts". Mr. Fu added that: "Sub sea technology is going to play an important role in extending the life of the Huizhou Fields. This project is another example of the Win-Win concept which has been the cornerstone of the successful cooperation between CNOOC and its foreign partners"